Category: Random rambling

Things that I produced when I did my Latihan Ikhtisas_Part 2

Other than posters, I also produced lots of reports during Latihan Ikhtisas.  One of the reports that I had to submit is through online i.e. HIPS report.  For the HIPS report, it is a bit tricky because you have to create a survey that needs to be distributed to students, teachers and parents.  I need to plan the preparation well by collecting evidences based on activities that we organised at school.  It is all about planning. 

When I asked someone who is undergoing her Latihan Ikhtisas now, she said that she does not assign to do any reporting like that.   In this sense, I am lucky because I got first hand experience of what teachers have to do on regular basis (well, there are other many reports that they have to complete, and I was spared from those reports because I am not a teacher).  I can emphatise with teachers in Malaysia who are bogged down with documentation thingy.  Kudos to all teachers in Malaysia!

Things that I produced when I did my Latihan Ikhtisas_Part 1

 

There are so many things that I did while undergoing my Latihan Ikhtisas.  One of the things that I like to do is to create posters.  Here are some of the posters that I made.  Well, basically, it is grammar and whatsnot.  So, being a non-native speaker, of course I have to take the content such as idioms from elsewhere.   😀 

 

 

 

 

 

UTMconfession

I know about its existence last year (2018) when I did my Latihan Ikhtisas.  I have no issue about its existence and whatever posts that people write.  A similar kind of blog such as IIUMconfession has existed few years back earlier.  For IIUMconfession, most of the times, the students or former students of IIUM would write about their experience learning and studying at IIUM.  When they talk about former lecturers, even though some of the lecturers are well-known as “killer lecturers”, they would write something positive about those killer lecturers.  They talk about the values they learn from them.  [Note: There are also non-IIUM students or former students who post their thoughts at IIUMconfession 😀 ]

UTMconfession?  It is totally a different game.  Some might say that I am bias because I didn’t graduate from UTM.  But the way I see it, UTMconfession has become a place where students defame, malign, slander (you name it) either the university where they go or went to study i.e. UTM or the people who teach or taught them or anyone that they have encountered for various purposes.  Don’t get me wrong.  There are some positive uplifting posts by various individuals (who are mostly students or former students) too.  

I am not saying that one could or should not give bad comments on the institution i.e. UTM or its staff (academics or non-academics), but from the way I see it, majority of the bad comments are baseless.  Only few can be considered as genuine cases that worth to be taken into consideration.  

For example, if you get failing marks, rather than just go straight away to “attack” the person who teaches you, please have self-reflection first.  Why do you get such marks on a first place?  Most of the time (99.9%) it is due to students’ effort.  As university students, it is not about judging how other people teach you, but rather judging how you learn from this person who teaches you.  Capisce?  

You might say that “Well, even though he/she has a PhD, but still he/she is a lousy lecturer“.  I do admit that some of my colleagues might not emphasize on their teaching, rather than research but they are the “minuscule organism” at this university.  Majority of us are passionate educators.  Every semester during semester break especially, some of us attend workshops/training etc. to improve our teaching strategies.  Some of us take the effort to change or adjust certain things that we normally do in class.  To have a fresher style, we go extra miles to keep ourselves updated with the latest development in teaching and learning.  All of these take efforts and time.  Students don’t see the behind-the-scene things. 

Do they know that we have to juggle with so many things other than teaching?  Do they know that whatever things that we do in class will be evaluated, audited and monitored?  So, when you guys give “lousy evaluation” on our ePPP, sometimes it does make others to raise questions about what and how we teach in class.  This is especially if we are teaching different sections, and one section give us good rating about our teaching and another section give us bad rating.  We are the same.  How can we get two different ratings?  It is you guys, students who have different perceptions about us.  It’s ok.  We are not stopping you from giving us bad evaluation if you feel dissatisfied with us.  You are human being with feelings so, it is your right to let your emotion known to us.  But you have to do it with hikmah (wisdom).  That’s something that you need to learn.  

Note: If you are dissatisfied with the university or the lecturer who teaches/taught you, please use proper channel.  Don’t use UTMConfession with the hope that anyone that you think has nothing better to do than to entertain your slandering complaint would read it.  Do you think that by posting such thing would change the situation according to what you wish?  It might backfire you instead.  

A contractor asking for donation?

I was waiting for ‘Asr prayer (as I wrote this).  Then suddenly, I heard somebody knocking on my door.  I asked who he was.  He said that he is from Maahad Tahfiz.   I remember an ustaz who has Tahfiz centre nearby my place who never did anything like this before.  I was skeptical.    I am in dilemma.  I don’t want to lose any chance of giving sadaqah and at the same time, I don’t want to give my money to a conman.  [Note: He came again on 18 August 2019).   

What should I do?  As I was typing this, one of my colleagues messaged us using Whatsapp to let us know about this.  Alhamdulillah she has similar stance as I am.  

If the person tries to sell some product, I don’t mind buying anything from the person even though I might not in need of the things that he sells.  This is based on what my late mom taught me.  Don’t refuse to buy anything from a seller who comes to your house especially if you see he/she carries the things on his/her own. 

My mom was a regular customer of this lady who sells medicated oils and whatsnot.  The lady would never fail to come to my house to sell medicated oils, talcum powder, fish cracker and such.  After she passed away, the medicated oils and talcum power are still there on top of her make-up cabinet/drawer.  A remembrance of my late mother and her kindness.  Al-fatihah.    

A dilemma indeed

The KPIs for university lecturers are not for faint-hearted people.   Indeed.  But sometimes, there are daredevil ones who would dare to do any and everything to make sure they hit their KPIs with flying colors.   Slow professor principle?  Definitely not on these peps’ vocabulary.  They are one on the Shinkansen mode.  Always.  So, anything that block their way will be bulldozed indefinitely. 

But the reality starts to show that the quantity does not justify the quality.  People have started to talk about it.  When asked about the practice of individuals who use other people’s students work without their contribution, critical people like Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz does say something spot on.  

For me, I believe that we can’t hurry to be “matured”.  It is as if you are taking a hormone booster to get old quickly.  Does anyone want to get old early?  Of course, there are outliers who excel in certain fields at young age and in academia, these people can be exemplified in the way they rise to the social academic ranking faster than the average.  Some are really good.  But I am not like them.  I am a late bloomer.  This is what I notice since young.  So, I am not pushing myself to be on Shinkansen mode.   

The incident that happened to one of my seniors in April 2019 left indelible mark that makes me think to reevaluate and reprioritise my goals in life.  Now, I believe that if I improve myself in the way I relate myself to Allah, it will be translated in the way I lead my life as His ‘Abd.  Even though in one of the verses in the Qur’an states

Yet, I believe that what is good in this world does not mean or equate with money or social status.  Allah Knoweth the best and I pray May He Bless me with the best gladtiding.  

Al-fatihah to my former lecturer_Part 2

He is known as “a killer” lecturer.  (Former students still remember him as such).  Nobody dares to come later than him.  The moment he entered the class, he would lock the door.  Late comers?  You wouldn’t able to enter the class.  Period.  No negotiation.  Nothing. 

At that time, nobody dares to make a complaint to the administrator or the dean.  Who dares to make a complaint when the one who locked the door is THE DEAN himself?  You make complain to him?  Are you crazy?  Even the VC is younger than him.  He is like Don Corleone.  You don’t mess with The Don.  

But former students learn values such as punctuality and such.  One of my friends who took sociology classes with him would proofread her assignments (the things that we don’t bother to do for another classes).  Why?  Those with grammatical errors would be publicly shamed once he returned the assignments.   He teaches us to be perfectionist and proficient in English.  Of course, as students at that time, being young and reckless, some of us didn’t appreciate his style.  

I heard the news yesterday that he passed away in his sleep.  He was 81 years old.  Al-fatihah to Prof. Dr. Mohamed Aris Othman (he is fondly known as Pak Aris even though he has Professorship title).   

What to write in your TESDCP teaching portfolio?

There are four aspects that you need to write.  

  1. Goals of student learning,
  2. Philosophy,
  3. Beliefs and practices of assessment and
  4. Self-reflection of teaching development over time.

Some tips:

  1. Write from your heart (either in English or Malay) in Words doc file first (the system is linked to UTMPORTAL, so if you leave it for a while, you will lose all of the things that you have written if you don’t save it)
  2. Highlight NALI (use certain terms commonly related to NALI)
  3. Don’t worry too much about grammar (this is not an SPM essay though.  But, please do proofread your writing because it might reflect your language proficiency as an academician teaching at university).
  4. If you have written somewhere that reflect your belief in either one of the aspects, you can link the URL too (there is a column under each heading of the four aspects).   For example, I link a post that I wrote here in my TESDCP about my belief in assessment.  

How to fill in information on Teaching Excellence System (TES)?

First of all, you need to be UTM staff.

Next, log in to MYUTM (using your ACID and password) to go to UTM Staff Portal (Portal Staf UTM).  

On your left hand side under Sistem UTM, scroll down to Akademik (click).  Choose Profile Akademik (click).

On your right hand side under Quick Links, choose and click Teaching Excellence System.  

Under Teaching Excellence Report, there are four (4) headings: Blended Learning, OBE, NALI & HIEPS and E-content.  

a) Blended Learning

To look at your Blended Learning report (this is based on your eLearning), click Blended Learning.  To see a list of courses that you teach or have taught, scroll down the heading Semester Session.  Click the semester that you want to see the report.  You can see the report any time during the semester.  You don’t have to wait until the end of the semester to see the report.

There is nothing you can add here.  If you want to see the change, make any change by adding activities, notes etc. on your eLearning.

2) OBE

To look at your OBE report (this is based on your OBE), click OBE.  So, once you complete your CAR report on your OBE, the status will automatically change to Complete.  If you have a course (like a module type kind of course) that you don’t need to create a CAR report, let your IT manager knows about it.  For example, in School of Education, there are MPPU1060, MPPU1070 and MPPU1080 (for Full research and mixed mode students).  There is no final examination and there is no grading except students need to comply certain requirements to get a status of PASS or FAIL (LULUS atau GAGAL).  So, if there is this kind of course that you teach, it might appear INCOMPLETE because there is no CAR report in the OBE (Don’t worry though.  It is just a report.  During audit, you can let the auditors know that it is not normal courses with final exam and such.

3) NALI & HIEPS

To look at your NALI & HIEPS report (this is based on ePPP), click NALI & HIEPS.  In your ePPP, there are questions about your teaching practice (strategies, activities that you do in class).  But however, students might not know and aware that when you do, let’s say a discussion on cases in class refers to case based learning.  So, they might not answer the question about case-based learning accurately (they might not state that you use case-based learning in your class).  Sometimes, it is worth to highlight the activity that you do in class is related to certain teaching approach.  For example you might say “You will be given a case based assignment.  You have to do it in group.  I want to emphasize case based learning and active learning in this class.  So, I give you assignment relating to case-based learning“. 

But normally, you assign the assignment on the first two weeks of semester, so students might not remember it by the time they have to fill in the ePPP which is at the end of semester (Week 13 onwards).  So, don’t be disheartened if you don’t see any NALI strategies appear on your report even though you apply it in your teaching.  That is why it is really important to explain your teaching strategies etc. in TESDCP (this one is different from TES) on a) Goals of Student Learning, b) Philosophy, c) Beliefs and Practice of Assessment, d) Self-reflection of Teaching Development.  

4) e-Content

To look at your e-content report (this is based on whatever things you do in class as long as you use the internet), click e-content.  Then select +Add New (on your right side).  There are several headings will appear.  

The several headings are: 

  1. Reference no (no need to fill in anything here)
  2. Project name (if it is based on a project, state the name of the project.  If not, just leave it empty)
  3. Session/Semester (you need to scroll down to make your selection).
  4. Subject Code (you need to type subject code of the course that you teach/taught).
  5. Category (you need to scroll down to make your selection)
  6. URL (you need to link a webpage URL here. See further explanation below).
  7. From (this is the date/duration that you use the material) 
  8. To (this is the date/duration that you use the material) 

Make sure you have your materials ready to be linked.   For example, to add category “Gamification”, make sure you have an online quiz on Kahoot or Quizziz or elsewhere that is open for PUBLIC view.  Don’t set it as PRIVATE (that one might need you to activate the viewing with certain password or code).  After that, copy-paste the link.  For example, HERE is an online quiz that I have made for Research Methodology class (Topic: Pilot study or Kajian Rintis) for Gamification category or HERE is a note for a topic for Educational Psychology class (Topic: Classroom Management) for Learning Management System category.  Using the respective link, I paste it on URL.   

Note of plagiarism: Quizziz and Kahoot allow users as administrator of a quiz to use/take questions from other existing quizzes.  So, in this case, please make sure that you add some questions of your own even though you also take other questions from other quizzes.

Final word

For the marking and evaluation, even though you put more than one quiz under gamification category, the panel would only give one mark for that.  So, make sure you diversify your e-Content category

Disclaimer: I am a novice in this thing.  So, if you need extra help, don’t hesitate to contact Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Nihra Haruzuan (the facilitator of TES workshop).  😀  We are all together in this.  So, let’s support one another in our journey to be the best educators in our respective field.  

If you need the notes from the TES workshop that I attended on 26 June 2019 (Wednesday), click HERE.  I took some personal notes on TES on e-content rubric (my own interpretation though)  and others.

 

Teaching Excellence System (TES) workshop_Part 3

Measures of Student Learning 

Basically, the information in Average score in ePPP and Feedback and Testimony from ePPP is generated from ePPP.  So, what you can do is you have to make sure your students would evaluate you every semester without fail and request them to give narrative feedback about you.  Any narrative feedback will appear in Feedback and Testimony from ePPP.  

But, for Feedback and Testimony (From others), upload any message, cards etc.  (written feedback) that you get from your students.  If you receive a Whatsapp message from your student, screen shot it and then covert it into PDF format before uploading it to your TES.  

Psst…. so next time when your students want to say thank or whatsnot, you can request them to write it in a form of note.  No need card.  Just a simple A4 paper would be enough.  😀

Why do I create unrelated posts in people.utm.my?

First of all, after I ended my Latihan Ikhtisas, I was astounded that I have to “maintain” my people.utm.my webpage or blog.  Norah told me that I need to maintain it on regular basis to make UTM visible.  I was thinking at time, how am I going to do that?  Norah teaches me how to maintain it and in her own word “Ala, kau cuba tengok aku punya.  Tak payah letak benda-benda serious pun.  Aku letak resipi.  Nanti ada bengkel webometrik ni, jangan lupa pergi balik.  Cuba ingat balik apa yang aku dengan Nihra dulu pernah ajar.  Kau pernah pergi kan yang bengkel aku dengan Nihra buat dulu kat fakulti?”  [Translated:  Just look at mine. No need to put serious stuff.  I put recipe.  If there is a workshop on webometric, don’t forget to register and attend it.  Refresh back what Nihra and I have taught you before.  You have attended the workshop that we conducted at the faculty, right?”]  

So, I start to post various things that I think might be important to me or benefit others in one way or another especially certain posts that contain information that I get from attending workshop like TES workshop, journal and whatsnot.  Like the half-day workshop on commercialization  and Intellectual Property (IP) that I attended this morning (9 to 12 pm 25 June 2019, Tuesday),  I think I have attended similar workshop before I made some notes but I don’t remember where I put the notes now.   So, as I listen to the facilitator (and ask questions), I also write down the notes using this platform i.e. people.utm.my.  So, perhaps there might be some colleagues who need some information about commercialization (for example), might use my webpage as a guide because I would also link whatever relevant webpage on the post (this is to ensure that I know where to get detailed information myself). 

One of my colleagues said that it is not right to just copy-paste link to here but in my case, I will make sure that I will put some introduction of the link that I provide.  That’s the least I can do.

Secondly, I am not getting any younger.  So, I have the tendency now to forget things that I write on notebook and stuff.  On top of that, I cannot share it with others immediately as compared to if I write it on a post like this.  In a way that, I want to help others and myself just in case if we need some important information relevant to our work.  

Of course, I also write nonsense random rambling like about cat, recipes and whatsnot.  This is a way that I used to do when I did my PhD.  When I experienced writer’s block, I would write blog.  So, just to make sure that I would keep on writing no matter what.  My former supervisor, Steve said to me “Hadijah, if you cannot write or edit your thesis, don’t make yourself of not writing at all in a day.  You need to keep on writing in different format, style or place.  You will not lose the writing momentum“.   After not writing any journal article for one whole year during Latihan Ikhtisas (except editing my students’ articles), I feel as if I am starting to lose my writing style.  I need to do something about this.  When I told Norah about it, with a smile on her face, she replied “Sebab tu lah kau kena tulis post kat sini, Dijah” [Translated: That’s why you need to write any post here, Dijah].  

Thirdly, sometimes I forget how to do certain things even though there are posters about it such as how to apply leave using MyUTM,  or about conferences or events like Car Free Day.  I want to make sure that I can remember those events or conferences and at the same time, help to disseminate the information to others.  

There you go.  My reasons of writing nonsense random rambling posts.  😀